Adverbs

What is an adverb?

An adverb is a word that changes, modifies, or qualifies several types of words including verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, and even entire clauses. Adverbs are words that provide context and they answer questions such as how, where, when, in what manner, and to what extent something is done or happens. Here are some examples in English.

I wrote quickly (modifying a verb)

The car was really fast (modifying an adjective)

I ate my food very slowly (modifying another adverb)

I played video games yesterday (modifying whole clause)

Different Types of Adverbs

Adverbs of Time: Adverbs of time tell when something happens and are usually placed at the beginning or end of sentences in Latin (and English).

Hodiē (today) Cras (tomorrow) Heri (yesterday) Nunc (now)

Iam (already) Tum (then) Manē (early) Serō (late) Mox (soon)

Adverbs of Frequency: Adverbs of frequency tell us how often something occurs. They can be indefinite, such as usually or always, or definite, such as daily or weekly.

Semper (always) Numquam (never) Cotidie (daily)

Diū (for a long time) Saepe (often) Ferē (generally)

Adverbs of Place: Adverbs of place, sometimes called spatial adverbs, tell us where an action is taking place. They provide location, direction, distance, and position.

Hīc (here) Ibi (there) Eō (to that place) Hūc (to that place)

Usquam (anywhere) Inde (from that place) Hinc (from this place)

Ultrō (beyond) Prosum (forward)

Interrogative Adverbs: these adverbs ask questions about where, when, and how often the action might take place.

Quando (when) Ubi (where/when) Quam (how)

Quamdiu (howlong) Quo (to where) Unde (from where)

Adverbs of Manner: Adverbs of manner explain how and action is carried out. Very often these adverbs are derived directly from adjectives by adding an ‘-ly’ in English. For example—slowly, quickly, sweetly, warmly.

Forming Positive Degree Adverbs from Adjectives:

Similar to English, you form many Latin adverbs by simply adding an ending onto the adjective. However, Latin has two different adverb endings that depend on the declension of the adjective

1^st/2^nd declension adjectives

STEM + ē

clarus (clear) à clar à clarē (clearly)
Iratus (angry) à irat à iratē (angrily)
Miser (wretched) à miser à misere (wretchedly)

3^rd declension adjectives

STEM + (i)ter

Celer (quick) à celer à celeriter (quickly)
Levis (light) à lev à leviter (lightly)
Audax, audacis (bold) à audac à audacter (boldly)

REMEMBER, ADVERBS DO NOT DECLINE. THEY ONLY HAVE ONE FORM!

Forming Comparative and Superlative Adverbs:

To form the other degrees of adverbs, follow similar rules to the respective adjectives.

Comparative

STEM + ior, ius = comparative adjective
STEM + ius = comparative adverb
Example: lentius, brevius, clarius

Superlative

STEM + issimus = superlative adjective
STEM + issimus; change the final –us to an –ē = superlative adverb
Example: letissimē, brevissimē, clarissimē

**the same rules for adj w/ stem ending in ‘l’ or ‘r’ are the same for adv Examples: Facillimē, celerrimē

Translating Adverbs:

to translate adverbs from Latin to English, you follow similar rules to translating adjectives.

Basics

Positive: ______ly
Lente = slowly
Breviter = shortly

Comparative: more ________ly, rather _______ly, or too ________ly
Lentius = more slowly, rather slowly, too slowly
Brevius = more shortly, rather shortly, too shortly

Superlative: most ____________ly, or very ___________ly
Lentissime = most slowly, very slowly
Brevissime = most shortly, very shortly

With QUAM

Positive = how
Quam lentē = how slowly! Or how slowly?

Comparative = than
Currō celerius quam Marcus = I run more quickly than Marcus

Superlative = as __________ as possible
Quam celerrimē = as quickly as possible